It was such a beautiful day here today. The perfect day to go outside and get an easy run done. Aside from a little bit of hip pain I enjoyed every step of this run. It was just one of those days.

I wanted to talk about a question I got from a reader the other day when I posted my PRO Compression Giveaway. Yes, don’t worry the giveaway winner will be announced at the end of this post.

I didn’t even think about talking a little more in depth about the benefits of compression during my review until Toni asked this question. Thanks Toni!

Okay getting down to it – compression is an amazing aid in helping runners recover and perform at their best.

There are several reasons I make sure to incorporate compression socks into my runs.

1. Decrease the onset of muscle soreness. I have found that by wearing compression socks I don’t have near the soreness I used to have. I wear socks during runs and after to help in recovery. I have very seldom deal with having sore legs anymore after my runs, and I recover much quicker.

2. Decreased muscle vibration and impact. One of the main reasons I choose to wear compression during runs is that it helps to decrease the amount of impact to my legs. I have suffered from several running injuries in the past, and since compression socks help to decrease the amount of impact on my legs I try to never run without them. This also helps with recovery since you are receiving less high impact and vibration to your legs during runs.

3. Increase circulation. One of the most well known benefits of compression socks is the aid it provides in increasing oxygenated blood circulation. This helps to increase your lactate threshold and it has been shown that increased lactate threshold in athletes helps them perform at a higher level.

4. Recovery. I always make sure to keep my compression socks on at least an hour or two after my workouts to help continue to the increased blood circulation and recovery process.

There was a time period where I never incorporated compression socks into my runs. Now I will simply not run without them due to the amazing benefits that have provided me.

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9 Comments

You should they really are great! All the product I promote on the blog are products I love so I am 100% back everything I put on here! 🙂 They are a great company and their compression socks are one of the best I have tried!

The way I understand it (since physiology is up my alley) the circulation aid and reduced muscle soreness benefits are really quite simple.

The human body uses the veins of the legs to “store” extra blood. A good bit of our cardiac function is regulated by how much blood returns to the right side of the heart from the body. In resting situations we don’t necessarily want all of our blood returning to the heart all the time.

Anyway the compression socks help squeeze this extra blood blood back towards the heart. This prevents pooling and actually flushes metabolic waste products out more quickly. Less pooled waste products equals faster recovery and less soreness.

And I agree – I definitely want to check out compression socks. I got running tights for the winter last year, and compression shorts as well … might as well try some socks!

Again I am amazed at how running tech has changed in the 25 years since I started running a year out of college. I never really kept up … so now that I re-engaged teh community in the last year I feel like Woody Allen in Sleeper!

Totally – we get much less snow in the Corning area than you do in Erie (nice valley protection), but it gets *cold*. Here is a selfie I grabbed on one of those -10 days this winter! And yet, I will run outside in anything but lightning and heavy ice.

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